


Veto

by turingtestflunker



Series: Checks and Balances [5]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Angst, BDSM, Begging, F/M, Hair-pulling, Oral Sex, Pining, Safeword Use, Verbal Humiliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-07-14 00:27:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7144748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turingtestflunker/pseuds/turingtestflunker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short interlude between the two arcs of Checks and Balances. Josh uses his safeword.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Veto

**Author's Note:**

> This is meant to be roughly concurrent with "The Al Smith Dinner"

It's been a long day. A long week, a long month, a long  _ year. _

Josh shuffles in like he always does, looking terrified. Helen knows it's detection he's scared of, not her but she still doesn't like to see it. She crosses the room to meet him and puts a hand on his cheek. Josh trembles at her touch. He seems so fragile.

“Sweetie” she whispers.

Josh closes his eyes and gasps, “Helen, please”

“I know, I know” Helen soothes.

They're all teetering on the edge these days. She's increasingly frightened of the dark look in Josh's eyes when he tells them that it only gets worse.

“Do you need it to hurt?” she asks softly.

“I...I… Yes” Josh stammers.

“It's okay” Helen says.

She leads him towards the couch, sits down and pushes him gently to his knees in front of her. Almost immediately, Josh's head falls to rest on her thigh.

Helen runs a hand through his hair, “Better?”

Josh moans softly and nods.

Helen tugs his head back for a second so she can ruck up her skirt and pull down her panties. Josh pulls against her grip on his hair.

“You have to beg for it, sweetie” she says.

Josh moans, “Please… let me, wanna make you cum”

“It's a good thing you aren't this inarticulate in public. Can you imagine?” Helen says, tightening her grip.

“Oh God” Josh gasps.

“If anyone else could see you now, they'd think you were high” Helen presses, “You're just that desperate, aren't you?”

“Yes, p-please” Josh mumbles, “Need it”

Helen laughs softly, “I know you do, sweetie. Why do you think we're here?”

Josh shudders and begins to weep. Helen loosens her grip on his hair and lets him put his mouth on her.

“There you go” she gasps as he gets to work, “So perfect like this.”

Josh cries out against her.

“You're so good at this. Is this how you get away with being such an ass? Oh-” it's hard to breathe, much less talk, “Is this how you beg for forgiveness, Josh?”

Josh is moving faster, almost frenzied.

“Oh God” Helen groans, “Is this how you got your pretty assistant to put up with you for so long?”

Josh pulls away from her as if burned and whispers, “Columbus”

Helen immediately gets down on the ground to crouch beside him. She’s always worried how she would be able to tell if Josh didn’t like something. How she would tell if he was  _ actually  _ upset. When the goal is making him crack like an egg at her feet, what does it look like for something to go wrong? She doesn’t have to worry about that now, because the way he’s crying now is nothing like the way he cries when she tells him he’s a scheming whore, and the blank look in his eyes is nothing like the way he stares into the distance after she or Matt are done with him. 

“Josh. Sweetie. What’s wrong?” she doesn’t ask if he’s  _ okay _ . Neither of them are particularly fond of stupid questions.

“I’m sorry, just… not Donna, please not Donna…” Josh chokes out.

“Don’t say sorry, don’t say sorry” Helen tells him frantically, and takes him into her arms.

“I didn’t know…”  _ that she mattered to you _ she doesn’t finish, “I didn’t know.”

“I fucked it up” Josh sobs, “I didn’t know and I fucked it up before I even knew it was a thing”

“Shh. I know” Helen says, rubbing Josh’s back gently. She knows better than to try and reason with this kind of pain.

Josh cries for a long time. Helen holds him. When it’s over, he dresses himself mechanically. They don’t talk. For the first time, he leaves looking worse than when they started. He’ll be getting on a plane soon, joining Matt in Detroit. She can’t bear the thought of him being alone like this.

Helen texts her husband to let him know Josh will need him tonight. She does her best to keep the message as oblique as possible. When she's done, she puts the phone down and cradles her head in her hands. She honestly never would've guessed. What does that say about her, about the way she sees Josh? She doesn't want to think about it. Unfortunately, Helen's never been any good at not thinking.

**Author's Note:**

> Thus begins the angst parade. Why do I love to make my characters suffer?


End file.
